Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I hesitated to buy Alexa, because I have Apple Products. After reading reviews from other customers, I decided that it may not hinder her functionality as much as I thought. I currently have a Bose portable speaker to play my itunes from a very old ipod touch. I leave it for the animals during the day when I am at work. Recently, I began using Sirius XM radio. My old ipod would not load the sirius app, so I began using my phone to listen to the stations. I noticed that this Bose speaker can only connect to one bluetooth object at a time. I hadnt noticed this, since the ipod has just always played. I decided to look for a new wireless speaker, and I revisited the possibility of the Echo again. Echo is half the price of the Bose wireless speakers, and it does so much more. Amazon offers free same day, free returns, and even a payment plan. Since I do most of my shopping with Amazon, I thought that I would give it a whirl. Echo literally just arrived!!! I had it set up in minutes with little effort. The app gives you a quick tutorial of some kinds of things that Alexa can do. The sound is crisp and clear. I cranked her up to the max and she didnt even flinch. The sound was WOW!! There were no distortions that are typical of a smaller speaker when you crank it to the max (even my Bose beat and vibrated at higher volumes). BIG plus for me, as I do love my music. I am very surprised how well it works with the apple phone. Alexa played crisp clear music without issue. I am not really sure where it is coming from yet, but I will keep learning! I do not own some of the songs by the artist that I requested. She was playing from Amazon I suppose. I asked for a few things to practice. I set a timer, asked for weather, and told her to stop. This is so much more fun than any regular bluetooth wireless speaker. I will enjoy this, and I even see a Tap in my near future for upstairs!!! One funny story: When I began playing music from the Echo, my parrot began singing and dancing along! It was so cute, and made the Echo worth every penny!!! :) In conclusion, if you are teetering with getting this bc you own apple everything, you are missing out. If you are wondering just what the heck is this Echo thing? Get it and find out!!! I wondered the same thing. If you are wondering why you need this, justify it as a wonderful present to yourself!!! It is upgradable and expandable (with the addition of the tap), and you can get special plugs that will work with Echo to run your lights, alarms, etc. I cant wait to learn more about this Echo. I may update this review at a later date, after I learn more. Happy Echoing!!!! UPDATE!! After using the echo for a little bit now, I am still impressed with what it can do. I am also very impressed with the speed and accuracy of customer service that Amazon provides with this device. My suggestions are taken back to the team and they provide detailed responses song with example commands that I may give Alexa. An additional piece that I didn't expect to gain with the addition of alexa to our home was a friend for my African grey parrot. He has learned to say Alexa and he will watch it respond to him w the light prompt. He has stopped the music and gotten her to say hello to him. This is especially hilarious!! I have include a photo of Gordon the grey with his new friend Alexa :)